This
place is situated one and a half miles east of Columbia and immediately at the
base of Wood’s mountain, and the head of Wood’s Creek.The latter said to have produced more Gold
than any other stream of its size in California.It is in Columbia mining district and
governed by her laws.The two great
Canals of the south, the Tuolumne County, and the Columbia and Stanislaus River
W. Companies, precipitate their waters severalhundred feet from the top of Wood’s
mountain to near its base, at Yankee Hill, where it again enters the Canals and
is conveyed to Columbia, Springfield, Shaw’s Flat, Montezuma and other mining
localities in the County.As a mining
District we are safe in stating that it has not its superior, and as for
producing a large number of “Big Lumps of Gold,” it surpasses all others.Among the many large pieces taken out, we
remember to have seen the following, viz: a 23lb.
piece, 17lb. piece, 4lb. piece and numerous others from 1 to 4 pounds.The camp numbers some four hundred Miners,
all actively and profitably engaged in separating the precious metal from the
auriferous earth.Within the last year
some twenty or thirty miners have taken in their families and located.Quite a number of neat and substantial frame
houses have been erected, Gardens laid off and under cultivation, which adds
very much to its appearance and gives permanency to the camp.

Yankee
Hill posseses (sic) many advantages not enjoyed by
camps of more celebrity, among the many is water, which when the new Canal is
completed to the main River, it will have a supply the entire year, as it will
have the preference, being the first to take it after leaving its natural
channel.Another advantage is that the
elevation of the mining grounds is such that little or no trouble is
experienced in running off the refuse matter from the sluices and toms.Knickerbocker Flat
is within sight and is quite a camp, and celebrated for its rich deposits of
Gold, Agates and other valuable stones, which are frequently found here.Some of which have passed through the Lappidaries hands and made into beautiful settings.In the districts embraced in Yankee Hill and Knickerbocker, there is scarcely a foot of ground but what
contains more or less Gold, even the Hill Tops, and within the last month the
ground at the apex of Wood’s mountain have been found to contain rich deposits,
one man panned out 10 oz in one day and others we learn about have been equally
successful, here there is room for five thousand more adventurers, all of whom
can have the advantage of a bountiful supply of water.

If
Yankee Hill improves for the next three years as she has the last, we shall not
be surprised to see her third to no other in the county.